Growing up fast

I thought I would take a moment and write a bit about each girl. In the past many days, I have thought about various things I should share / blog about each of them and their unique personalities, but I haven't written anything down. So, let's see what I can remember. (Probably not much...)

Lexi is a 5-1/2 year old dying to turn 6. She is constantly thinking about when her next birthday is and how old she will be when Lillian is 2 or 3 or 4, etc. She is still our princess prima donna. She wails/cries at the slighest injury or injustice (Lillian is often the cause for her wailing), but she manages to dish out her fair share of annoyance to Lillian. She likes to plan and know what is going to happen. We will go here first, there next, etc. She thinks her Pappa is snill (nice) and Mamma is sint (angry). Go figure. She is obsessed with tucking in her shirts and either wearing tights (year-round) or having her socks stretched up to her knees. She really makes an effort to pick out clothes that match, but sometimes it is pink/white striped tights that match her pink/white striped top. Hmmm... not so much. She was quite keen to repeat the Legoland experience from last year and had a smile plastered on her face most of the time. She took charge of the map and dictated where we went and what we did (most of the time anyway). She has enjoyed riding her bike a bit this summer as well as swimming (both indoors and outdoors). Like I mention in the blog posts below, she has become quite a bit braver and more adventurous of recent. She is the over-bearing big sister that is constantly trying to carry Lillian around - despite our demands that she not. She has selective listening and trys my pateince most days. Harley is still her closest friend, but she has some pretty good real friends as well (both in the Norwegian and English speaking communitites). She weighs around 17kg (37#) and is approx 115cm (almost 4 feet tall).

Lillian is a most advanced 21 month old. She wants to do everything everyone else is doing. There is no reasoning with her. She is stubborn and very persistant. She is learning a few bad habits from Lexi - whining to try and get something - for one. Her speech is starting to come on - her vocabulary is 20 words or so - mostly all Norwegian. She has had a much stronger influx of Norwegian in these early days than Lexi did. She started barnehage at 14 months (Lexi was 19mo), she started 100% Norwegian barnehage (Lexi had a year of 50/50 English and Norwegian), etc. Some of her words are ha det (goodbye), tutti (slang for her pacifier), bleie (diaper), boller (bread roll), nese (nose), øye (eye), øre (ear), munn (mouth), Mamma, Pappa, car, bird, ja (yes), nei (no), eple (apple), etc. There are more, I am just not thinking of all of them. She understands everything - both languages, and attempts to say any and everything. She still loves to eat and has (unfortunately) a sweet tooth. For breakfast, she likes some cheerios (or weetabix), some toast with butter and possibly some fruit. Her favorite fruits are strawberries, blueberries, bannanas, watermelon, apples, pears, grapes, etc. For lunch, she likes grill cheeses sandwiches (with ketchup for dipping), tomotato soup, ham sandwiches (she loves ham), etc. For dinner, she loves pizza (with ham and bacon), pasta with white or red sauce, rice with butter or sauce, etc. She still isn't much of a vegatble eater which includes (unfortunately) potatoes (mashed or boiled). She loves her McDonald's chicken nuggets and fries, but most of all, she loves to eat what you have. Your plate and her plate can be identical, but it always tastes better coming from your plate. She is also a very social eater and will eat whenever anyone is eating - i.e. she likes her breakfast first thing in the morning, but will eat again when Tim has breakfast a bit later. (Bad habit?) She has taken to rejecting her bib and high chair. She wants to sit in a normal chair like Lexi and who needs a bib? (Rice meals are the messiest.... sticky rice everywhere). Oh, and she likes Chinese noodles. She insists on having a napkin beside her plate and cleans as she goes (sort of). She will also hand back her plate when she is finished. She is also drinking out of normal cups - who needs those sippy cups anyway? She is a Pappa's girl and much prefers males to females. She bonds with all of our male friends and would much rather have Tim change her diaper or give her a bath or put her to bed than me. (Fine by me :)) She much prefers to be naked and if she must have on clothes, barefoot is best. Socks are only for taking off. She refuses to leave hair clips in her hair or allow any sort of ponytail to keep her wild locks from falling in her eyes. She loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and says "O Toodles" with them and does the Mouse-ka-dance.
I'm sure there is much more, but I have written a novel about Lillian and a bit less about Lexi. Hmmm.... (Oh, lastly - Lillian is still small. She weighs around 10kgs (22#) and is only 80cm tall at best (31"). She seems to be slower than Lexi in the height department.)